Book Wanderers: The Lord of the Rings
by Elvish Cupcake
Summary: Did you ever wonder how you just suddenly come up with Plot Bunnies? Now, your questions can be answered. This is the story behind the elusive world of Book Wanderers, how they explore the world of Lord of the Rings and bring YOU Plot Bunnies.


**Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/place names mentioned in the story, apart from my OCs. **

**A/N: Even though this has mentions of other fandoms, this is not a crossover story. I hope you enjoy and please tell me if you spot any mistakes or have any suggestions! :) (anything written in _italics_ is usually part of the Guide.)**

* * *

"_Book wandering is not a simple job that can be taken for granted. It requires detail, attention and dedication. It needs creativity, quick thinking and a sense of precaution, because when you're wandering worlds you must remember – all the characters cannot do is see you. Unless stated beforehand, all of their other senses are present and you will probably get caught if you had no training or common sense before entering the book._

_Book wandering is more like an art than a job – it has many branches, of which you can choose either one of many. There is just wandering, there is delivery and there is bunny planning. All of these have more jobs growing away from them, until at last they form a big tree - this is called the Tree of Wandering._

_Before we begin exploring the possibilities of those many jobs and explaining what they consist of, you must decide which of the main three branches you want to go down – Wandering, Delivery or Bunny planning. In the World of Wandering, you rely on your instinct. _

_Choose the branch that appeals to you and decide your whole future._

_Now."_

* * *

It's a rather ominous start to a book about Wandering, I think.

To decide your whole future in one go, relying on nothing but what the name sounds like a daunting prospect. I could choose anything

I closed the book and plopped it down on my small desk. This was all so confusing, so different and in no way normal.

My brother and I were all set and ready to go to the Academy of Plot Planning and Lazy Editing at the end of the week and by then we must have read and revised the Guide of Wandering Worlds twice over and remember all we were taught at our primary school – neither the Academy or our primary school were normal either. They were all dedicated to people like us: people who were destined to be Wanderers, destined to Wander different Worlds and make Plot Bunnies. It doesn't seem all that bad, right?

Wrong. It was a dangerous job, more dangerous than mining or fighting live dragons, like in _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. _The characters of the book couldn't see you, but if they had amazing hearing, they could shoot you with any weapon they had. Just because you were breathing far too loudly.

The primary school taught us the theory behind Wandering. Just the theory, mind you. Now, we were supposedly ready for real practice. By the end of the week, I need to have my bag all packed, the Guide all memorized and my future all planned out. I have a _week _to plan my whole life.

The Academy would teach us how to be professional Book Wanderers and how to plan Plot Bunnies, how to subtly deliver those Plot Bunnies to young Fan Fiction authors and how to keep the world of Fan Fiction functioning. They taught us to make new, creative plots and leave the developing and editing to the authors (as the name implied). Above all, they taught us to not get killed in a fictional world - you know, just in case we _somehow _managed to get ourselves in a sticky situation while being all invisible.

I guess I should be getting back to the reading the Guide then, as I have no choice but to do that. Ah, but wait. I have to decide what branch I must go down. Surely no one would know if I just took a quick peek at the available options...

I picked the book up again and turned to page 12 to see the chapter on Wandering, as instructed by the All-Knowing Table of Contents.

There was nothing on the page.

I turned it upside down, I gave it better lighting, I did everything I could to check for hidden writing – I found _nothing._ It was all the same with Bunny Planning and Delivery. Not for the first time in my life, I started to question the sanity of the world we live in – who makes books that are completely _blank _past the Introduction?

Sighing, I gave up trying to force any information out of the book and turned back to the place I marked in the introduction. If it didn't want to be read, then _fine_ – I won't read what it doesn't let me. I can just ask my parents.

* * *

"_You tried to look at it, didn't you? Don't worry you're not the first one and most certainly not the last one. Generations of young Wanderers have tried to gather information to help them plan their future better and see what fits them – it doesn't work this way in the World of Wandering. Instinct is your main weapon, use it. Don't be afraid to trust your feelings, they are your guide. Your protection is your own mind._

_If you feel the need to put this book down and think for a moment, do so. Really though, it's not as hard as it seems. Choose a name and go with it. _

_Just don't try to ask your parents – they are bound to secrecy and not permitted to tell you anything before you join one of the main schools of Wandering. By then you should already have chosen a path (it is highly recommended to do so _now_, if you were wondering.) and your parents will not need to tell you anything. You will learn it all by yourself at your new school."_

* * *

I swear, this book can read minds.

I was still clueless about what to choose. Letters from the Academy should be arriving any minute, letters where you must tell them all about why you chose a particular branch of the Tree – something I didn't do yet. Why was it so hard to choose something?

Maybe it was because I was scared. I didn't know what was going to happen once I chose for good. I didn't know what my life would be like when I chose and why it would be like that, I barely knew _anything _about this new world! Wandering could be very dangerous, I did know this at least.

It was always my brother who was the star of the family, who could name twenty famous Wanderers right off the top of his head. It was always George who looked forward going into the Academy for years beforehand, always him who would know all the hard theory work.

I was never like that and I probably won't be. I was a dreamer - I had my own little world where I could escape George's snide remarks about my appearance and my interests. I could spend hours in it and not care at all what happened around me.

The only reason I agreed to go to this Academy, the only reason I slightly agreed to the life of Wandering was because I would get to visit those worlds. I could visit The Lord of the Rings and trek across Middle-Earth with the Fellowship, I could study at Hogwarts with Harry Potter, I could be a completely invisible addition to the arena in the Hunger Games; but it all took practice. It sounded fun, but when I found out just how much work this could take, I was disappointed. This was supposed to be fun, not hard work and thinking.

I heard my mother calling me downstairs for dinner. I put the book down again and trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen. I was greeted with a sight of George reading a slightly yellowed letter with a smug grin on his face. My parents were evidently excited about the letters as there was another one waiting for me on the table.

The letters from the Academy have arrived.

My mind swirled with the possibilities - Wandering, Bunny Planning, Delivering...Wandering, Bunny Planning or Delivery... It was time to choose who I was going to be and I, Ksenia Summers, was not ready for this at all.


End file.
